Aleia in the Jungle
by Silvertail
Summary: A Jungle Book fic- A panther has to learn about survival. My first fic, please read & review. Chapter 2 up. :D
1. The Banishment

Aleia   
  
By Silvertail  
  
Chapter 1- The Banishment  
  
  
It was a hot, slow day in the man village. Yet it was also busy. Men fished and prepared for hunting, women cooked and collected water. In the heart of the jungles of India, this village showed an average day.   
Aleia lay in her little hut, feeling lazy. She had lived in this village for as long as she could remember, a pet of a small girl. Although she and the girl had once been very close, the girl was older now and more interested in other things.   
Aleia finally got up and walked over to her little water dish and had a drink, watching the activity in the village. No one paid her any mind; she had been tamed long ago and would no longer attack people, knowing men were all her friends. She lay down in the sun and relaxed. Even if she did not have much company, she was perfectly happy.  
Suddenly there was a commotion near the east side of the village. Aleia, alert to her panther instinct, sensed danger. She looked up and spotted something very strange. A large tiger was prowling around the village, sniffing and exploring. The villagers were beginning to panic; they had never seen a tiger in the village.   
Aleia's owner's father grabbed his gun and followed the tiger. Aleia watched curiously. The tiger growled threateningly at him and started toward him. The man was elderly and frightened, and in his nervousness he dropped the gun. The tiger pounced.  
Under the animal's teeth and claws, the man was screaming. Aleia was in a panic. Nothing like this had ever happened. It seemed as if time had stood still. She just could not believe this was happening in the sleepy village!  
Aleia's thoughts were interrupted with a bang. Another hunter had shot at the tiger. It didn't hit its mark, but it scared the beast, and he ran out of the village. With the danger gone, villagers crowded around the man, trying to help.   
"Out of the way," The other hunter proclaimed. He was handsome with dark eyes. He also had a temper. "This man is gravely injured. He may be near death. You are not helping by crowding." The crowd, a bit embarrassed, moved back.   
"And you," The hunter addressed Aleia, "Standing there while your master is attacked! Shameful! You are a worthless creature. Have this panther killed." He commanded a young boy. The words shot through Aleia like one of the hunter's bullets.  
"No..." Aleia's owner whispered through the pain. "I may be almost gone, but I will say this. Aleia is my beloved daughter's panther. She will not be killed." Suddenly he fell limp. A shocked silence followed the man's death and Aleia was almost unable to contain her shock. She felt weak; her legs seemed unable to hold her up.  
"It is because of her that he is dead!" The man's grief-stricken daughter proclaimed. "If she were a good animal my father would be alive! I want her killed!" The young hunter responded, "No, miss, we must follow his last wishes." Crying, the daughter exclaimed, "I am not having her in this village! If she will not be killed, than she must leave!"   
The next two hours were the worst in Aleia's life. While funeral arrangements were prepared, all Aleia could do was listen to the tears of family and friends and think, "It's because of me. Why didn't I do something? It's all my fault!" She could not help weeping out of grief for the man who always treated her well and out of remorse for what she felt she had done.  
Soon a young man walked to her hut and tied a rope to her neck. He led her out of the village while the villager's watched, some angrily. Aleia felt like a spectacle. She was led out of the village's gates and into the dense jungle. As she walked through the trees, the man often jerked her with the rope. It seemed like it took forever to get to the isolated location of the jungle she was being led to, but they got there. As the young man untied the rope he said to her, "You must stay here in the jungle. If you ever come back to the village you will be killed."   
As he left, Aleia was overcome with grief and remorse, and a new emotion: hatred. Sitting in the clearing, Aleia made a vow. Somehow, she would find that tiger and kill him. She had no fighting experience at all, but she did not care. That tiger would pay.  
  
**  
  
Please look for Chapter 2. It will be longer and with more dialogue, and will be more upbeat. This chapter was more like a prologue. Please review and tell me if you like it, and if you don't like it, tell me what you don't like to help me write in the future. Thank you for reading! 


	2. The Jungle

Hello, before I continue with chapter two, I'd like to say a couple of things. First, thank you to those who have reviewed me. I'm so glad people are enjoying my fic. I hope you like chapter 2. Second, with the exception of Aleia, these characters are not mine, they belong to the Walt Disney Company, as you all know.   
  
Chapter 2- The Jungle  
  
Bagheera the panther was taking a "walk" through the jungle, making sure there were no problems to be solved. As he jumped from tree to tree, he reflected on how quiet the jungle was since Mowgli, the man-cub, had returned to the man-village. It wasn't that he did not enjoy the quiet. He had certainly got fed up with the man-cub from time to time. Yet in a way, he missed the man-cub's vivaciousness.   
He decided to rest on a high tree branch for a bit. As he did, he reflected on the past, on Baloo the bear, and how Shere Khan had left this part of the jungle. Bagheera was quite glad things would be peaceful in his home once again.  
Suddenly, his ears were alerted to a noise. It sounded like a largish cat, but what cat would be so noisy? Bagheera decided to investigate. He jumped from branch to branch until he located the sound of the noise: A young panther, past a cub, but not quite an adult, stomping through the bush like an elephant. Bagheera laughed to himself, wondering what she was doing. He had never seen her in the jungle. He decided to investigate, and jumped down in front of her.   
The young panther was clearly startled. "What are you doing?" She asked crossly. "Don't you have better manners than that?"  
"Well," Bagheera responded, "I would think you would have more brains and grace than just to jump everywhere. Don't you have any pride in your species?"  
"Leave me alone. You don't know the day I've had." She turned and started walking through the trees. Bagheera watched her. When she was almost out of sight she looked back. "What are you doing?" She asked. Bagheera responded, "I was wondering the same thing."  
She was annoyed now, and said, "I'm trying to catch some food."  
Bagheera laughed.  
"What?" She asked. Bagheera replied, "If you think you'll catch food like that, tramping through the woods, alerting every creature of your presence…Good luck!"  
She ignored him and walked out of view. Bagheera watched her go with some puzzlement. Why did this cub not know anything about stealth or catching food? Bagheera decided to get his own dinner. He imagined she would be back sooner or later…  
  
***  
  
Aleia walked through the jungle listening carefully. Remembering what that panther had told her she tried to walk stealthily, but it was hard work doing that while keeping an eye and ear out. After about an hour, she had not seen a single creature. Was there something wrong with the jungle?   
She walked and walked. It occurred to her she was lost, and she had to laugh. Lost from what? It wasn't as if she had anywhere to go, she thought sadly.  
It occurred to her that if her walking was scaring animals off, maybe they would come if she sat quietly. Curling up in a small clearing, she started keeping watch and was soon fast asleep.  
"Wake up!" A voice was calling. She came out of a dream about her master and an eerily familiar tiger and looked around. The panther from before was sitting on a branch.  
"Where did you come from? How did you find me?" Aleia asked angrily.  
He was disgusted. "Well, it was not difficult. I started tracking you about fifteen minutes after you left, not to mention you even sleep noisily.  
You won't last a day at this rate. Come up here in the tree."  
Aleia hopped up into the tree; rather well, she thought, considering her lack of practice. After all, she was a cat.  
"All right." He said to her, cutting to the chase. "Who are you and where did you come from?"  
Aleia was suddenly struck with a fear that she didn't even recognize. After all she was just a young panther. She decided to cover it up; it probably wouldn't be wise out in the jungle.  
"Well, are you going to answer?"  
Aleia replied nervously, "If you must know, my name is Aleia."  
The panther laughed at this. "What kind of name is that?"  
She was insulted, and her temper overpowered her nervousness. "It's my name and I'm quite proud of it."  
He replied, "Fine. My name is Bagheera, and I want to know where you come from."  
"I'm from a man-village."  
Bagheera was astonished. "Why were you in one of those?"  
Aleia was still annoyed, and his nosiness was making it worse. "It's just where I lived. I was happy there!"  
"That's ridiculous. A panther belongs in the jungle. How long did you stay there?"  
Aleia replied, "I was always there. I don't know why, I'm sure there's a fascinating story behind that but I don't know it. Okay?"  
Once again, Bagheera was astonished.   
"If you always lived there- Well, I can see you need my help."  
Aleia was glad he had not asked why she left, so she agreed without really thinking about it.  
"I guess so," She said absently. "What do I need to know?"  
Bagheera replied, "Well, for one thing, you don't need to walk on the ground at all. Use the trees. What do you think they're there for?"  
"The men always picked off food."  
Bagheera told her, "You're not living with the men now. You have to hunt on your own now."  
Aleia was upset. She hated hunting, she always had. It didn't matter in the village, she just ate the same meat as the men. She had not been a hunting pet. At least not for long.   
  
  
  
End Chapter  
  
I'm sorry this took so long, I had sooo much trouble writing it. In Chapter 3, I will try to get in some other JB characters, it will involve Aleia's "jungle lessons" so it may be a bit humourous also. I've really grown to like my own character so I'll have chapter 3 up soon. -Silvertail 


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